Skopje Magical College: Christmas Eve among Spellsingers
The bonfires were lit on the high places all over Magical Europe: each one could be seen by those gathered at the previous Fire Loft, and by those gathered at the next. The Antrim coast Fire Loft could be seen by witches and wizards in the Hebrides; the Jersey fire could be seen across the Channel in France. The dances and feasting were held around each loft, or inside nearby in case of inclement weather. Honey mead and hot whiskey and hot cider were passed around by families and friends in their warmest dress robes; circle dances were breaking out everywhere, indoors and out; and Divination masters and mistresses were taking queries for readings on the upcoming New Year.

Midwinter at Skopje Magical College in northern Macedonia found Madame Jovana Sandansky at the center of a cyclone of activity around her own Fire Loft. New arrivals and owls telling of new arrivals were everywhere; the flesh of boar, pheasant and turkey was roasting on indoor fires; baked and fresh fruits were being passed around; and house elves were bringing in one course of the feast long before previous ones had been polished off. It was sheer madness, but happy madness all the same. Floating candles mingled with rotating Japanese lanterns over the heads of the celebrants. Circle dances for children and adults galloped around and atop tables. Lovers were taking and renewing Winter Vows and year-and-a-day betrothals in the feasting hall, meditation rooms and the corridors outside the ritual room. In and out went the people watching the outdoor Fire Loft, sometimes requesting more wood and tinder fuel, sometimes marshalling children indoors and out to observe their bonfire's progress and look out over the lake to the nearest Fire Loft to this one. The energy was unbelievable, and would only grow more impassioned as night fell.

Just before the call came for dinner, Jovana allowed herself to be drawn into a songspell dance in honour of the season. The fortyish spellsinger was pulled into the circle by her friends Lule and Ailu Gierran; drums and bouzoukis began playing, and the lead singer began verses of a Macedonian song in honour of Ama Marija (the Virgin Mary), the great mystic and visionary of ancient Israel:

The young girl danced, and the green touched her;The vision of angels overtook her sight.No cave nor dream she needed to see clearly,Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

Marija, only just come of age,She, the avatar of her nomad people,She who achieved mystical union with the Creator,Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

Star of the Sea they call her,As they called Aphrodite before her,Queen of Heaven, as Asherah, as Inanna,Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

The vision was a fright and confusing;But the angels conveyed blessing and love,And her ecstasy brought healing to the people.Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

Today Marija dances among the poor:The frightened ones of Iraq, of Palestine,The Afghans under heavy siege,The poor of America's Gulf and cities.

Tonight her child is born againIn the slums of London and Hong Kong,In the refugee camps throughout the world:Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

Maidens of the poor, dance with Marija;Follow her lead into powerful visions.You are chosen thus, not the gold-ridden mighty.Ama, Amonah, Marija, Doimater.

A toast rose up among the feastgoers, that all would go well when Jovana Sandansky of Skopje left for America; and that feasting would yet come to those who had no food, and that the innocent dead of the wars and storms would find their blood settled and their souls at last in peace.

Much Merriment of the Season to All...from the witches and wizards of Skopje Magical College, Sapmi Witchcraft and Wizarding Academy, Ilmatar Magical Academy, and the Karelia Songspell Collective!!